67 

P55 
opy 1 



ICbc Colonial ©amee 

of HtTietlca 

Hn tbe state ot ©bio 




StuMee in tbe Colonial period for use 
in tbe public Scboole 



Colonial 
Massachusetts 




By 
Mary Schuyler Phillips 

OF Marietta, Ohio 






Copyright, 1916 
The Ebbert & Richardson Co. 



/ 

©CI.A437150 
AUG -7 1916 



Introduction 



MASSACHUSETTS !— What words can fittingly intro- 
duce the colony whose ideals have become the ideals 
of the nation ; and whose men had such a large part in leading 
the resistance to oppression and in standing for those prin- 
ciples that made the American colonies a free nation? 

For seven years, from the age of 14 to 21, I sailed in and 
out of Boston Harbor and gazed with awe and admiration 
upon Bunker Hill monument, as I saw it rise above the 
waters of Massachusetts Bay or sink beneath the horizon, 
as our little fishing vessel sailed to and fro on the very waters 
over which the Mayflower came. For eleven years, as 
Superintendent of Schools, I lived almost within the shadow 
of that monument. Faneuil Hall; the old State House; 
the old South Church; North Church; "the Charlestown 
Shore;" Concord and Lexington; "the rude bridge that 
spanned the flood;" Salem; Provincetown Harbor; Plymouth 
Rock; State Street; Dorchester Heights; Battery Wharf — 
these all became a part of my life through personal associa- 
tions, while I lived over in imagination the scenes and events 
that gave them their place in American History. Bradford, 
Alden, Standish; Hancock, Franklin, Adams; Otis, Paul 
Revere, General Warren — these seemed like living men. 
I knew them. 

That the pupils might gain something of the patriotic 
impulse that comes through personal association with historic 
scenes and events, I outlined a series of historic excursions, 
or field days, to be taken by all seventh and eighth grade 
pupils, as part of their grammar school course. This was 
for pupils living in the vicinity of Boston. Such a means 

3 



of teaching is not available for the children of Ohio. To 
help meet that need, however, to some extent, the present 
monograph — the third in the series of Colonial Studies — 
has been provided by the Colonial Dames of America in the 
State of Ohio, and is offered to the school children with the 
hope that through its reading they may obtain a clearer 
idea about the colony of the Pilgrims and Puritans, and may 
come to have a deeper appreciation of the suffering they 
endured and the sacrifice they made; and most of all that 
through these clearer ideas and deeper appreciation the 
children of today may become more devoted to America 
and more willing to live for and, if need be, die for — the 
things for which America stands. 



Cincinnati, Ohio, 

June, Nineteen-sixteen. 



RANDALL J. CONDON, 

Superintendent of Schools. 



Colonial Massachusetts 



PART I 



TO many localities in New England were given names 
endeared to the colonists by early associations, while 
others received such Indian names as may have pleased 
the fancy of the newcomers. The State of Massachusetts 
has retained to this day the name of an Indian tribe, which 
name she has immortalized by the leading part she has played 
in the building of a great nation, and by the eminent scholars, 
statesmen, poets and scientists whom she has produced 
and nurtured. 

The history of Colonial Massachusetts is even more 
closely connected with the history of contemporary England 
than is that of Colonial Virginia or New York. For it is 
only by a study of the religious and political conditions in 
England that it becomes possible to understand what in- 
duced men and women to leave comfortable homes in order 
to face life in an unexplored wilderness with an untried 
climate. 

In the year 1602, the Englishman, Bartholomew Gos- 
nold, while exploring the northern coasts of America, landed 
on a sandy shore, to which he gave the name of Cape Cod, 
from the numerous fish of this species swimming in the bay. 
But no successful attempts were made to colonize this 
region of the country until the establishment in England 
of The London and Plymouth Companies, the former of 
which was active in promoting the settlement at Jamestown, 
while the latter turned its attention to the Northern coast 
with its profitable fisheries. 

As a member of The Plymouth Company, Chief Justice 
Popham interested himself particularly in schemes for 
colonization. As early as 1607, Popham sent out two vessels, 
the "Gift of God" and the "Mary and John," with one hun- 
dred and twenty colonists, who landed on a peninsula at 
the mouth of the Kennebec River in what is now the State 

5 



of Maine. They built a fort, which protected a church, 
a storehouse and several dwellings. They practiced justice 
toward the Indians and were peaceable and industrious 
among themselves. But the death of their leader, George 
Popham, a brother of the Chief Justice, and the severity of 
the long winter, when they were locked in ice and snow, 
together with the loss of their fort by fire, so discouraged 
the settlers that, in the Spring, they resolved to abandon 
the desolate wilderness and to sail for home. 

Nevertheless, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Governor of the 
newly fortified port of Plymouth in England, a man of reso- 
lute purpose, not altogether unmixed with personal am- 
bition, continued to send out ships for exploration and trade 
and to endeavor to interest the people in schemes for coloni- 
zation. 

But the Northern coast of the North American Conti- 
nent bid fair to be lost to England, in spite of her claims and 
efforts to colonize. For the French became active in es- 
tablishing settlements in Nova Scotia, while the Dutch 
ascended the Hudson and founded a prosperous trading 
post on Manhattan Island. It was, therefore, fortunate 
for England that Captain John Smith did not give up his 
love of adventure when, on account of his wounds, he left 
forever the struggling colony at Jamestown. In 1614, he 
sailed for the Northern coast with two ships, fitted out by 
certain merchants of London for purposes of trade in fish 
and furs. While the sailors were busy securing a cargo. 
Smith spent his time examining the shores and the islands 
and taking soundings of the water. He changed the name 
of this region of country from Northern Virginia to New 
England, and made a very creditable map, which was shown, 
on his return, to Prince Charles, who gave a name to about 
thirty different points on the coast. Plymouth, Charles 
River and Cape Ann retain to this day the names bestowed 
upon them by the Prince. 

In 1615, Captain Smith was given the title of "Admiral 
of New England" and was sent out by the Plymouth Com- 
pany with two ships to effect a settlement on the New Eng- 
land coast. But misfortune still attended this brave ad- 



venturer, and, his vessel falling into the hands of the French, 
he was held for some time in captivity. This unfortunate 
voyage seems to have cured Captain Smith of his love of 
adventure, for he contented himself thereafter by distribu- 
ting his maps and pamphlets among the people of England. 
But failing to awaken by these means any general interest 
in colonization, he exclaimed in despair, that "all availed 
no more than to hew rocks with oyster shells." By his 
writings, however, he managed to keep the subject before 
the English people, reminding them that the sea which 
washed the coast of New England abounded in fish, that 
the shores were covered with valuable timber, and that 
birds and beasts, which were good for food, filled the vast 
forests. As his explorations were made in Summer, little 
was said of the climate, and thus the colonists learned later, 
through much suffering, of the severity of a New England 
Winter. 

Through the exploring parties sent out by Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, it became known that in the years 1616 and 1617, 
the New England coast from the Penobscot River to Nar- 
ragansett Bay was almost devastated by a pestilence, which 
swept away whole Indian villages, and left some parts of 
the Northern coast almost uninhabited. It was doubtless 
due to this depopulation of the forests that the early settlers 
of New England suffered so much less from the cruelty of 
the savages than did the first colonists of Virginia or New 
York. 

Through the efforts of Gorges and Smith, interest in 
the Plymouth Company was revived, and, in November of 
1620, a new charter was granted to it under the name of 
the "Council for New England." The territory included 
in this charter was that lying between forty and forty-eight 
degrees of latitude, upon which the name of New England 
was formally bestowed. This corporation consisted of 
forty persons, and any rights in the land which might be 
enjoyed by others were obtained by special contract with 
the Council for New England, which thus assumed the posi- 
tion of a large land owner, who derives his income by letting 
or selling his land. But the new corporation, in spite of all 

7 



the privileges conferred by its charter, was unable to allure 
missionary, merchant or adventurer to settle upon the 
shores of New England. 

Although to Smith it seemed impossible that any other 
motive than a desire for wealth would ever erect a common- 
wealth on the New England shores, yet it was, nevertheless, 
an entirely different influence which at last resulted in the 
settlement of a permanent colony on this coast. It was to 
be proved that the love of religion can be an even stronger 
motive power than the pursuit of wealth. For the first 
permanent settlers of New England were men of lofty 
religious ideals, who were seeking a home where those ideals 
might be carried out. 

To understand how it came about that men of good po- 
sition, with comfortable incomes and happy families, should 
be willing to abandon their accustomed comforts, and to 
cross a stormy sea to make their homes in a wilderness full 
of Indians and wild beasts, it becomes necessary to search 
for the cause in the state of affairs in England. If we go back 
to the days of Queen Elizabeth, who ascended the throne in 
1558, we shall find that her Parliament passed two famous 
statutes, the "Act of Supremacy," which made the Queen 
the head of the Church as well as of the State, and the "Act 
of Uniformity," which demanded that all ministers should 
use the liturgy or service established by Parliament. During 
the persecutions carried on by Queen Mary, many English 
clergymen had taken refuge in Germany and Switzerland, 
and had there fallen under the influence of John Calvin. 
During Elizabeth's reign, they returned to England and 
became leaders of English Protestantism. These men did 
not at first protest against the union of Church and State, 
but they wished to purify the Church of what seemed to 
them unnecessary forms and ceremonies, and hence they 
soon became known by the name of Puritans. They ob- 
jected especially to the use of vestments by the clergy and, 
in some cases, even to the Book of Common Prayer. Queen 
Elizabeth disliked Puritanism, because its teachings were 
opposed to her ideas of royal power, therefore, if any refused 
to wear vestments, she forbade them to preach, or even cast 

8 



them into prison. But such punishments only strengthened 
the opposition, and thus Nonconformity, as it was called, 
continued to increase, until, at last, a sect arose among the 
Puritans which maintained that it was unscriptural for the 
Church to have any connection with the State. These men 
wished to set up a church of their own entirely independent 
of the State and with simplified form of worship, thus they 
became known as Separatists, or Independents, sometimes 
also called Brownists, from their first leader, Robert Browne. 

If the Separatists expected better treatment under King 
James I, than was their portion in the days of Elizabeth, 
they were disappointed, for James I had exalted ideas of 
royal rights, and would tolerate no independence in church 
doctrines or separation of Church from State. ''I will 
make them conform, or I will harry them out of the land," 
he said, and he was as good as his word. In spite of perse- 
cutions, the Separatists had no thought of abandoning their 
religious ideals, and began to look towards tolerant Holland 
as a future home. Holland, having gained her own religious 
freedom through years of suffering and bloody wars with 
Spain, had become the refuge for people of all nations who 
were seeking religious liberty. As early as 1593, a Separatist 
congregation from London had fled to Amsterdam, seeking 
an asylum where they might practice in peace their own 
ideas of Church government. The Independents, who were 
desirous of complete separation of Church from State, were 
most numerous in the Eastern counties of England, especially 
in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, and the emigration 
of the London congregation was followed later by those of 
Gainsborough and Scrooby. The congregation from Gains- 
borough settled in Amsterdam, and was soon lost to history. 

Difficulties beset the little Scrooby congregation from 
its first attempt to emigrate. In 1607, they had hired a 
ship and had already embarked for Holland, when the officers 
of the law came upon them, took their money and goods 
and thrust them into jail for a month. In 1608, a more 
successful attempt was made, but even this was not without 
its tribulations. Already the men were aboard the ship, 
while the women with clothes and furniture were waiting 

9 



to embark, when the cry was raised that the officers of the 
law were coming. The Captain of the boat, who feared 
trouble for himself, at once weighed anchor and sailed away 
with a fair wind, leaving the brave women lonely and un- 
protected on the shore. They were "hurried from one 
place to another and from one justice to another and thus 
turmoiled a good while," says the chronicler, but managed 
at last to make good their escape and to join those who had 
already reached Holland. It is among the leaders of the 
Scrooby congregation that we find the clear-headed, far- 
sighted, determined men who became later the "Pilgrim 
Fathers." The minister at the time of the emigration to 
Holland was Richard Clifton. On account of the infirmities 
of age, he was soon succeeded in Amsterdam by John Robin- 
son, a man of learning, high character, amiable disposition, 
and of a tolerant mind rare among Puritans in that day. 
Other leaders there were, to whose energy and ability 
America owes much down to the present time. William 
Brewster, ruling elder in Robinson's church, was a man of 
education and sound judgment, whose sense of public duty 
fitted him to be a leader among the people. William Brad- 
ford was but a boy of seventeen at the time of the emigration 
to Holland. But, through his love for study, he became 
a self-educated man. As a farmer's boy in England, as a 
dyer in Holland, as the governor of a small colony in the 
wilds of America, he never failed to perform his duty faith- 
fully. To these leaders were joined later John Carver, dig- 
nified and benevolent; Edward Winslow, a man of cultiva- 
tion and gentle spirit, and Miles Standish, a soldier by 
profession, bold but not rash, who proved himself a faithful 
friend and vahant defender in times of danger. To men 
such as these, too much praise can not be given, and es- 
pecially by those who are enjoying in America today the 
heritage of religious and political freedom. 

On arrival in Amsterdam, the Scrooby congregation 
found that city full of bitter theological strife, hence the 
peaceable Robinson decided, in May, 1609, to remove his 
flock to Leyden, "a fair and beautiful city and of a sweet 
situation," and there the exiles found employment in various 

10 



trades and in the manufacture of woolen cloth. With 
unremitting toil, they made homes for themselves and their 
children in the foreign land, where from time to time they 
were joined by other Separatists from England, until the 
little colony from Scrooby became a large congregation. 
But the language was not their mother tongue, the customs 
and costumes were different from those which had been 
familiar to them in England, they were and must ever 
remain strangers in a strange land, or else their children 
must mingle with the native population and become essen- 
tially Dutch, and, therefore, they longed for a country 
which they might call their own. 

The advantages of New Netherland were first considered , 
but at last it was decided to emigrate to some place in Amer- 
ica, near the Delaware River, where they could found an 
independent colony under the London Company. They, 
therefore, sent two of their number, John Carver and Robert 
Cushman, to London, where they enlisted the aid of Sir 
Edwin Sandys in their scheme of colonization. Through 
him, a grant of land was obtained from the London Com- 
pany, and seven thousand pounds were subscribed to the 
enterprise by merchants in London. But the King refused 
to grant a charter and promised only that he would not 
molest them, "provided they carried themselves peaceably." 
It seemed unwise to the congregation at Leyden to sever 
all connection with Holland until they could feel assured of 
the success of their colony in America. Part of their 
number, therefore, remained in Leyden with their minister, 
John Robinson, while others, under the leadership of such 
men as Brewster, Bradford, Carver, and Miles Standish, 
undertook the new venture. 

Late in July of 1620, this little group of fearless men and 
women sailed from Delft Haven in the ship "Speedwell." 
At Southampton, they met the Mayflower, with friends 
from London and commenced the long journey across the 
ocean, but the Speedwell was soon compelled to return to 
Dartmouth for repairs. After making a fresh start, they 
had succeeded in leaving England three hundred miles 
behind, when the Captain of the Speedwell announced 

11 



that the ship was in danger of foundering on account of her 
leaky condition. Both ships accordingly returned to 
Plymouth, where the rickety Speedwell was abandoned. 
About twenty passengers decided to remain in Plymouth, 
while the rest re-embarked in the Mayflower, which again 
set sail for the new world on September 6, 1620. The 
voyage proved stormy, and, having lost their bearings 
through foul weather, it was the sandy coast of Cape Cod, 
instead of the shores of Delaware Bay, which first met their 
expectant gaze. Their efforts to continue southward were 
baffled by strong head winds, and they were forced to anchor 
in the harbor of Cape Cod. There they abandoned their 
intention of proceeding southward, and, realizing the near 
approach of winter, as well as the value of the fisheries, they 
decided to make a permanent settlement in that region of 
the country. The patent received from the London Com- 
pany gave them no claim on the New England coast, they 
held no charter from the King, but some sort of government 
they must have, if a colony was to be founded. The men 
of the party assembled, therefore, in the cabin of the May- 
flower, and drew up the famous "Mayflower Compact," 
on November 11, 1620, by which they bound themselves 
into a "civill body politik" and promised "all due submission 
and obedience" to such laws as should be thought "most 
meet and convenient for the general good of the colony." 
Today the beautiful Pilgrim Monument, erected by the 
"Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association," guards the 
harbor at Provincetown, reminding all who come near its 
massive walls of the noble Pilgrim Fathers. 

Under this compact, John Carver was chosen Governor 
for the first year. For five weeks, the Pilgrims remained 
on the Mayflower, in what is now Provincetown Harbor, 
during which time an exploring party was sent out, under 
the leadership of Miles Standish, to decide on a suitable 
place for the permanent settlement. During the absence 
of this party, occurred the birth of Peregrine White, the 
first white child born in New England, and also the sad death 
of Dorothy Bradford, wife of William Bradford, who was 
later, for many years, the loved and honored Governor of 

■ 12 



Plymouth Colony. After much suffering from snow and 
sleet, the exploring party at last reached the point on Cape 
Cod Bay, which, by a curious coincidence. Prince Charles 
had previously christened Plymouth, the name of the Eng- 
lish port from which the Pilgrims last sailed. Here was a 
safe harbor and plenty of good spring water, and here 
the weary voyagers landed from the Mayflower, in Decem- 
ber, 1620, near a large bowlder since known as "Plymouth 
Rock." 

During this first Winter, the Pilgrims were exposed to 
many hardships, and much suffering through lack of proper 
food, so that fifty-one of their number died before Spring. 
But Brewster understood the people well when he said, 
"It is not with us as with men whom small things can dis- 
courage, or small discontentments cause to wish them- 
selves at home again." They had sought the wilderness 
with a clear aim and a resolute purpose, and were not in- 
clined to abandon the enterprise, however difficult or dan- 
gerous it might prove. When, in April, the Mayflower set 
sail for England, none of the settlers took advantage of the 
opportunity to return. Just as the ship was about to sail, 
the Governor, John Carver, suddenly died, and William 
Bradford was elected as his successor. Bradford was in 
the prime of life, with good health and an unbounded 
energy, which inspired the people to work, so that by the 
end of the first Summer, the platform on the hill surmounted 
by cannon had become a fortress from which a village 
street, with seven finished houses, led down to the water. 
Fields were cleared, and food and fuel were laid aside to 
meet the wants of the coming winter. When provisions 
against future suffering had thus been made. Governor 
Bradford appointed a day of Thanksgiving, the first New 
England Thanksgiving Day, a day now celebrated through - 
out the land, after the harvests have been safely gathered. 
On November 9, 1621, the "Fortune" arrived, bringing 
more Pilgrims from Leyden, who were gladly welcomed, 
in spite of the fact that,this increase in numbers created a 
shortage in provisions. 

The Indians took stealthy observations of the white 

13 



men from the protecting shelter of the forests, but were 
afraid to come nearer, for they beheved that the pestilence 
from which they had suffered was due to the incantations 
of white men. But at last an Indian, who had learned 
from fishermen a few words of English, came into the 
village. The kindness with which this Indian was treated 
induced Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, to visit the 
Pilgrims with a score of painted warriors, and the treaty 
of peace then formed was faithfully kept for fifty years. 
But the Narragansetts were less peaceably disposed, and 
their chief, Canonicus, sent a messenger to Governor Brad- 
ford with a bundle of arrows wrapped in a snake skin. 
The valiant Bradford, not to be intimidated by this threat 
of war, sent back the snake skin stuffed with powder and 
bullets. Canonicus felt great fear of the powder and balls 
and ordered his medicine men to carry the snake skin away. 
Thus was peace with the powerful tribe of Narragansetts 
preserved for the struggling Pilgrims. 

With the "Fortune," in 1621, came also a patent from 
the Plymouth Company, in whose territory they had un- 
expectedly settled. This patent, however, was not made 
out directly to the colonists, but to John Pierce, one of the 
merchant partners by whom the original patent from the 
London Company had been obtained. 

By the year 1623, Bradford already realized that the 
system of communism heretofore practiced at Plymouth was 
a failure, and he, therefore, tried the experiment of giving 
to each family a tract of land in proportion to its size. 
The wisdom of this policy was soon apparent, for each one 
worked with diligence, wishing to be as prosperous as his 
neighbor, so that never again was there scarcity of food 
in the Plymouth Colony. 

The relations of the Colony with the London merchants 
were never very satisfactory. From the merchants they 
received few supplies, but many complaints, and also ship- 
loads of colonists who were not in sympathy with the aims 
or views of the Pilgrims. Therefore, in 1627, they bought 
up all the stock from the merchant partners in London, 
which they paid for in installments, and thus, by 1633, 

14 



became independent owners of the country they had occu- 
pied and cleared. They also tried again to secure a charter 
from the King, but could obtain nothing more than a fresh 
patent from the Council for New England, dated January 
13, 1630, which, however, had the merit of defining the ex- 
tent of territory they might call their own. The growth 
of the colony was very slow and, after ten years, it numbered 
but three hundred, and in 1643, but three thousand. Never- 
theless, other towns were gradually settled. In 1632, was 
founded the town of Duxbury, which was named for the 
birthplace of Miles Standish. Eleven years later the towns 
of the colony numbered ten. 

As long as Plymouth was the only settlement, the 
problems of government were not complex. At first the 
Governor alone exercised executive and judicial power. 
Later, to William Bradford, as Governor, was given at first 
one assistant, then five, and at last seven. The officers 
were elected and the laws enacted by the General Court, 
a body composed of all the freemen, or voters, of the colony. 
But, as the number of towns increased, it became difficult 
for all the freemen to be present at the meetings of the 
General Court, and thus it came about that the people 
were allowed to send some one to represent them at these 
meetings, Plymouth being entitled to four delegates and each 
of the other towns to two, and thus was established repre- 
sentative government. Such was the humble beginning 
of the great Puritan exodus which settled on the New Eng- 
land coast, and such were the toils and dangers through 
which the Plymouth colony was obliged to pass, attaining 
at last, through economy, industry and intelligence, so great 
an influence that it became the cause of the establishment 
of other colonies, and an important step toward the founding 
of our Republic. 

But great as was the work of the Plymouth settlers, 
that colony was not destined to become the largest or most 
influential, on the New England coast. During the years 
following the arrival of the Mayflower, several attempts 
were made to establish settlements on the shores of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, the most important of which was made in 

15 



1623, by a private company of merchants in Dorchester, 
England, who were in the habit of sending fishing vessels 
to the Kennebec River. They wished to found a permanent 
station to help the sailors in loading their vessels, and sent 
out a ship of fifty tons, giving to the project a religious 
character by including a clergyman in the party, whose duty 
it was to look after the spiritual welfare of the sailors and 
fishermen. As the cold at the mouth of the Kennebec 
River was very intense, but the fishing was found to be 
good in Massachusetts Bay, fourteen men landed to start 
a settlement at Cape Ann. In 1626, the Dorchester mer- 
chants pronounced their undertaking unprofitable and 
dissolved partnership. Their stock in trade was sold to a 
man by the name of Conant, who remained with three 
servants at Cape Ann, but soon afterwards removed to the 
safer harborage at Naumkeag. 

But all the small settlements on the coast of the bay 
were destined to be absorbed later by the great wave of 
Puritan emigration, which took possession of the Massa- 
chusetts shore. John White, a native of Scrooby, had 
become rector of Trinity Church in Dorchester, England, 
and was greatly interested in the sailors and fishermen who 
ventured out upon the lonely ocean to fish by the distant 
New England coast. He helped to establish the settlement 
at Cape Ann, and when that project was abandoned, he 
encouraged Conant to remove to Naumkeag, promising 
to secure for him a patent, money and fresh settlers. He 
realized that many ventures had failed in the past, because 
idle and worthless men had been sent as colonists. He, 
therefore, resolved to interest industrious and able men in 
his scheme for colonization. He also understood the signs 
of the times in England. In 1625, James I had died and had 
been succeeded by his son, Charles I. It would seem as if 
all the royal pride and stubborn will of James had been 
intensified in his son. The belief of Charles in the divine 
right of kings to govern to suit themselves soon brought 
him into conflict with his Parliament, which wished to 
uphold constitutional government. John White foresaw 
the coming political storm, and feared lest the Puritans, 

16 



with whom he sympathized, might be crushed by Charles, 
to whom nonconformity meant rebellion against the King. 
Among the Puritans at this time were some of the ablest 
men in England, merchants, scholars and statesmen, while 
the great body of Puritans was composed of strong-minded , 
clear-headed men and women, who were not to be in- 
timidated by King or Bishop, and who feared the terrors 
of the wilderness less than the surrender of their religious 
convictions. White, therefore, pushed his scheme for 
colonization, hoping to provide a refuge for the Puritans 
before it might be too late. On March 19, 1628, a tract of 
land was obtained from the Council for New England, 
consisting of all the territory between "three miles north 
of the Merrimack and three miles south of the Charles, in 
one direction, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the 
other," Of course, the Council had, at this time, no idea 
of the extent of country to the westward, as it was then 
supposed that the Pacific Ocean lay not far from the Hud- 
son River. This temtory was granted to six gentlemen 
one of whom, John Endicott, figures largely in the early 
history of the Massachusetts Colony. Endicott was sent 
to Naumkeag with sixty persons, and was appointed to 
supersede Conant as leader. The first settlers opposed 
this change, but at last the matter was aiTanged so that 
good feeling prevailed, and Naumkeag was rechristened 
Salem, the Hebrew for peace. 

But John White and his partners were not disposed to 
rest satisfied with this grant from the Council for New 
England. The example of Plymouth inspired them to try 
to establish something more permanent than a mere trading 
company, and, in order that the settlers might feel secure 
in the possession of their land, they deemed a royal charter 
necessary. All the influence of the most powerful Puritans 
in England was brought to bear upon the King, until, at last, 
the coveted charter was signed in March 1629, which created 
a corporation called "The Governor and Company of Massa- 
chusetts Bay in New England," and confirmed to this 
company the territory granted by the previous patent. 
The affairs of this corporation were to be managed by a 

17 



Governor, Deputy-Governor and Council of eighteen 
assistants, and the only restrictions placed upon them by 
the charter were that they should license no man to "rob 
or spoil," should hinder no man from fishing upon the coast 
of New England, and should pass "no law contrary or 
repugnant to the laws and statutes of England." It is not 
known what induced the King to grant so liberal a charter 
to Puritans, whom he did not like, but he had an unruly 
Parliament and political factions that opposed his will, 
while he did not anticipate the transfer to America of the 
charter and government. It is probable that he was glad 
to be well rid of the Puritans, who were making such a 
turmoil in his kingdom, by shipping them to America, 
where they might clear the forests, and fight the Indians, 
and thus free him from some troublesome subjects. The 
Company soon sent out six small ships, with four hundred 
people, together with cattle, goats, arms, ammunition and 
tools. Three ministers accompanied this party, and, on 
its arrival at Salem, Endicott suddenly found himself 
Governor of a full-fledged, good-sized colony. 

Several prominent Puritans in England, who were inter- 
ested in this venture, entered into a compact, by which 
they bound themselves to emigrate to America with their 
families, provided the government and charter of the 
Massachusetts Bay Company should be removed to New 
England. It appeared that no legal obstacle stood in the 
way of this transfer of the government across the sea, 
since the place where this Company should hold its meetings 
was not mentioned in the charter. Thus it came about 
that the laws of the new colony were to be enacted, and the 
officers appointed by a local government in Massachusetts, 
and thus it happened that the new colony became self- 
governing, with the stipulation that it was to enact no laws 
contrary to those of England. 

John Winthrop, a wealthy gentleman of Suffolk, England , 
was elected first Governor under the new arrangement. 
He was a gentleman in the highest sense of that term, 
religious, intelligent, and fair-minded, a scholar and an 
able lawyer. It was to his skill and wisdom that the strug- 

18 



gling Massachusetts Colony owed much of its success. 
Thomas Dudley, of ancient family, was Deputy-Governor, 
and in him was exemplified the grim, stern, unyielding 
character, so often associated with the term Puritan. These 
men sailed in the "Arbella," in March, 1630, accompanied 
by a fleet of eleven or twelve ships, and reached Salem on 
June 12, with the precious charter from the King, to retain 
possession of which was the constant aim of early colonial 
politics in Massachusetts. The influence of two such 
prominent men as Winthrop and Dudley induced many 
other Puritans to join the colony, so that, by Christmas of 
1630, more than one thousand passengers had sailed for 
Massachusetts Bay. A tide of emigration followed, but it 
was not the longing for adventure, or the search for wealth, 
which brought to the bleak shores of Massachusetts this 
crowd of earnest settlers. It was rather the transfer of a 
people, a church, and a government to a land yet unoccupied, 
where it was hoped to find political freedom and religious 
independence. 

Winthrop found Endicott's colony at Salem in "a sad 
and unexpected condition," many having died of exposure 
and lack of proper food. He succeeded Endicott as Govern- 
or, and, not being pleased with Salem, removed with most 
of the newcomers to Charlestown. Even here, illness and 
death pursued them, so that Winthrop set aside July 30 
as a day of Prayer. On this day, Winthrop, Dudley, 
Johnson, and the pastor, John Wilson, drew up and signed 
a simple church covenant, which became in reality the 
foundation of the Congregational churches of New England. 
There were many deaths at Charlestown, due to exposure, 
lack of proper food, and good water. Winthrop, therefore, 
became dissatisfied, and was ready to lend a willing ear to 
Mr. Blackstone, who came from his lonely farm to tell the 
Governor of the sweet spring of water on the Shawmutt 
peninsula, and to invite him to remove thither. Accord- 
ingly, on September 17, the Governor's frame house, then 
in process of erection at Charlestown, was removed to its 
new site on the peninsula, where other houses were soon 
built. By order of the Court of Assistants, this new settle - 

19 



ment was named Boston, from the principal town in that 
part of England from which had come most of the leaders 
of the new Puritan settlement. Boston soon became the 
chief Puritan city, the center of the religious, political, and 
social life of the colony, and it has remained to this day the 
capital of the State and the leader of its thought. Its fine 
harbor attracted trade, and the strong tide of immigration 
brought to it citizens, so that, within a few years, the rude 
houses began to give place to substantial and attractive 
homes, and the shops to tempt buyers by their desirable 
wares. 

It was, however, not so much due to her wealth as to 
her influence in religion and politics, and her skill in founding 
a state, that Boston acquired so prominent a place in colonial 
history. The Puritans who came to Boston were not at 
first Separatists, as were the Pilgrims who settled Plymouth, 
but they were thoughtful men, who saw the growing evils 
in Church and State in England, and who desired to live 
where their own theories of a purer Church could be carried 
out. Religion was their central thought, and became the 
keynote of their State. In order to practice religion in their 
own way in a place where they were free from persecutions, 
they exchanged home and friends for toils and dangers. 
They all came with the same high moral standards, and 
the same sincere, simple faith. For them, the Church was 
supreme. Therefore, at the General Court, held at Boston 
in 1631, it was ordered that "for time to come no man shall 
be admitted to the freedom of this body politic but such as 
are members of some of the churches within the limits of 
the same." Having thus established the law that to be a 
freeman, or voter, one must also be a member of the Puritan 
church, it is easy to see that Church and State became 
essentially one. Not only was citizenship based on church 
membership, but the Bible was the recognized law book , 
of which the ministers, who were usually educated men, 
were considered the best interpreters. Consequently, the 
ministers wielded great power and influence in the State, for 
they were consulted on all occasions by the Board of Assist- 
ants, who wished to find in the Bible a precedent for all 

20 



their conduct. In fact, it was the aim of the Puritans to 
estabhsh a government in which God should be recognized 
as the supreme head, and the Bible as the supreme law. 

At first, it was thought that the business of the Colony 
could be transacted by a public meeting of all the freemen 
four times a year. But the rapid growth of the colony soon 
made this impossible, and it was decided to leave the choice 
of Governor and the law-making power to the Board of 
Assistants. In May, 1631, it was further agreed that the 
Assistants need not be chosen afresh every year, but might 
hold their office during good behavior. Thus it began to 
seem as if the political power was to fall entirely into the 
hands of the few. But, with the natural instinct of English- 
men for political liberty, the people soon realized this danger, 
and showed their opposition to the rule of a few on a question 
of taxation. The Governor and Assistants, in order to 
meet the expense of a fort at Newtown had levied a tax on 
each separate community. This tax the men of Watertown 
refused to pay on the ground that the power to tax was 
vested in the whole body of freemen, and that they had not 
been represented when the tax was levied. Although the 
men of Watertown were reproved by Governor Winthrop, 
and their opposition was formally withdrawn, yet their 
protest produced its results. In the following May, the 
General Court decreed that the Governor, Deputy-Governor 
and Assistants should be elected by the whole body of 
freemen, and that every town should appoint two represent- 
atives to advise with them on the question of taxation. 
The following year, it was ordered that there should be four 
annual General Courts, but that the whole body of freemen 
should only be present at the Court for the election of 
Magistrates, while to the other three each town should send 
its representatives to assist in making the laws. Thus the 
idea of representative government gradually took shape in 
the minds of the Puritans, and the demand for "no taxation 
without representation" was recognized as justifiable in the 
very beginning of the colony. In their town meetings, the 
people became politicians and debaters, while by means of rep- 
resentation, the towns were joined together into a common - 

21 



wealth, and from this the people learned that through the 
union of the different colonies, a nation could be made. 

Enemies of this Puritan government soon carried com- 
plaints to England of the cool manner in which the Puritans 
were forming a government for themselves, as if no English 
King existed to whom they owed allegiance, and they in- 
timated that Massachusetts intended to free herself from the 
Mother Country as soon as a favorable opportunity could 
be found. Archbishop Laud had so increased the penalties 
against the Puritans in England that many Puritan ministers 
withdrew to America, followed by their entire congregations. 
This withdrawal of so much of the best blood of England, 
together with the reports of the independence of the Massa- 
chusetts Colony, and the ability of the native colonial officials 
alarmed the King so greatly that he demanded from Massa- 
chusetts the return of her charter. From 1631 to 1642, 
there was a constant struggle for the possession of this 
charter. Several times, the King demanded its surrender, 
and each time the pious rulers of the Puritan colony showed 
themselves equal in statecraft to the King and his Ministers. 
At last, war broke out in England between Parliament and 
the King, leaving to the King no time to trouble his humble 
American Colonies, and thus the people of Massachusetts 
were left to work out in peace their own destinies. 



22 



Colonial Massachusetts 



PART II 



WE have seen how, during the period of colonization, 
the Plymouth Colony was established by the Pilgrim 
Fathers on the bleak shores of Cape Cod Bay. 
Separatists in faith and of a sturdy independence of charac- 
ter, they formed their own government with little reference 
to the King, and carried it on in the fear of God. 

A few years later, the Massachusetts Colony was estab- 
lished on Massachusetts Bay by Puritans, who did not 
object to the union of Church and State, but who were 
opposed to some of the ceremonies which had become a part 
of the service in the English Church, and conformity to 
which was required by the English King. These Puritans 
wished to live where they could worship in their own way, 
and, therefore, on account of persecutions in England, came 
over in numbers to the Massachusetts coast, bringing with 
them their charter from the King, and establishing their 
own government. They contrived to give to this charter 
a most liberal interpretation, and for many years managed 
their own affairs with little reference to English King or 
English Parliament. The character of these Puritans was 
stern, fearless and unyielding. They braved the dangers 
of the unknown wilderness in order to worship God in their 
own way and to better their condition, and they intended 
that their colony should be united in belief, and that their 
Church should be supreme; they, therefore, issued a decree 
that only men admitted to their churches should hold office 
or be allowed to vote. In other words, the Puritans had 
fled to an unexplored country to escape persecutions at 
home, to better their condition, and to enjoy freedom for 
themselves, but they had not come to secure religious 
toleration for others. On the contrary, they aimed at a 
imited colony, whose members should all think alike on 

23 



questions religious and political. Those who thought 
differently were regarded as disturbers of the peace, and, 
if they tried to spread their doctrines, were requested to 
leave the colony. 

One of the first of these disturbers who made himself 
prominent was Roger Williams, a Welshman and a Uni- 
versity graduate. He was quick in thought, and graceful 
in expressing it. His winning ways and lovable character 
drew around him many friends, but his pugnacious dis- 
position did not allow him to dwell in peace with the stern 
Puritans, who were so thoroughly satisfied with their own 
creed. He maintained the doctrine that the union of 
Church and State was a sin, and thus he struck at the very 
foundation of the Puritan state. He also wrote a pamphlet 
to prove that the King had no right to give away the lands 
of the Indians, which doctrine would deprive the colonists 
of the land, which they had settled under their charter from 
the King. Thus the teachings of Roger Williams antago- 
nized both Church and State, and he was summoned before 
the Court of Assistants to answer for what was looked upon 
as a denial of their charter rights. He was able, however, 
to explain satisfactorily some vague phrases to which the 
court objected, and was accordingly acquitted. He con- 
tinued, nevertheless, to give offense to the rulers of the 
colony by his teachings, and, in October, 1635, he was again 
on trial. Because of his refusal to renounce his views, he 
was sentenced to banishment from Massachusetts within 
six weeks, which time limit was afterwards extended until 
Spring. He decided to establish a new settlement on the 
shores of Narragansett Bay, and a number of friends were 
found ready to follow him thither. But Massachusetts was 
not willing to allow such a disturber of the peace so close to 
her borders, and sent Captain Underbill to sieze him and ship 
him to England. Learning of this plan, he fled alone 
through the wilderness, in the middle of winter, to the shores 
of Narragansett Bay. Surrounded by dangers, he must 
certainly have perished on the way had not friendly Indians 
received him kindly and given him food and protection. In 
June, 1636, with five friends, he succeeded in reaching the 

24 



present site of Providence, where he was joined later by many 
members of his Salem Church. Here he founded a prosperous 
settlement, which afterward became a part of the colony of 
Rhode Island, to which his later history belongs. 

From 1630 to 1634, John Winthrop was Governor of 
the Massachusetts Colony, directing with wisdom the 
affairs of the infant commonwealth, which had so pros- 
pered that, at the close of this period, it numbered some 
four thousand people, while about twenty villages had been 
settled on or near the shores of the Bay. The foundations 
of the new State had been well laid, and the people calmly 
proceeded to elect their own rulers and to pass their own 
laws. 

In the year 1634, Winthrop was succeeded in office by 
Thomas Dudley, a man of sterner mold, and he, in turn, by 
John Ha5mes. Shortly before the banishment of Roger 
Williams, a young man of note had joined the Puritan 
colony. This was Henry Vane, the son of Sir Henry Vane, 
the comptroller of the King's household. In 1638, when 
but twenty-four years of age, he was elected Governor of 
the colony, although without experience in colonial affairs, 
for he was brilliant, well-educated, and full of enthusiasm. 
His term of one year in office was troubled by a war with 
the Pequod Indians and by violent theological disputes. 
It was brightened, however, by one event which was of 
great value to the new colony. About this time, three 
clergymen from England joined the Massachusetts colony. 
These were John Cotton, Thomas Hooker and John Harvard, 
all of whom, each in his own way, were destined to exert a 
lasting influence. These men, who were graduates from 
Emmanuel College of the English University of Cambridge, 
became, in their new home, leaders of thought and of public 
opinion. Through their influence, and that of other edu- 
cated men, a University soon seemed to the people essential 
to the welfare of the colony. In 1636, therefore, the General 
Court appropriated four hundred pounds to establish a 
College at Newtown, later called Cambridge, in honor of 
the University town of that name in England. At his 
death, in 1638, John Harvard bequeathed his library of 

25 



about three hundred volumes, and the half of his estate to 
the new College, which the General Court ordered forthwith 
to be called by his name — Harvard College. Such was the 
humble beginning of the great University, whose name and 
fame are now known from ocean to ocean. A little later, 
subscriptions were made in Boston for the establishment of 
a free school "for the teaching and nourturing" of children, 
and thus was founded that system of free public schools, 
which today extends from Maine to California. 

Both John Cotton and Thomas Hooker were eloquent 
preachers and scholarly men, but they held quite opposite 
views on the theory of government. The law that none but 
members of the Puritan Church should vote or hold office 
did not meet with unanimous approval. John Cotton was 
one of the chief supporters of this law, and also of the view 
that the political power should be retained in the hands of 
a few of the wisest and best men in the colony, while Hooker 
believed in democracy, or a government in which all the 
people had a part. In June of 1636, Hooker, who was the 
popular pastor of a flourishing church in Newtown, em- 
phasized his protest against the aristocratic views of the 
majority of the clergy by removing to the Connecticut 
Valley, with some one hundred members of his flock. Soon 
the Dorchester and Watertown congregations followed, 
and by the next May, eight hundred people had settled in 
the fertile valley of the Connecticut River. 

The religion of the Puritans was a matter of strict 
regulation. There were rules concerning fast days, the 
Sabbath Day, prayer meetings, speech and dress. Games 
of all sorts were forbidden, theatrical entertainments were 
not allowed, and even singing-schools did not come into 
fashion until 1720. The men found recreation in hunting 
wolves and bears, in house-raisings, and elections. The 
women had their quilting parties, and the young people 
enjoyed themselves at apple bees and corn huskings. The 
principal interest, however, for both men and women, 
centered in theological discussions. Among those who had 
followed Dr. Cotton from England were Mrs. Anne Hutch- 
inson, and her brother-in-law, Mr. Wheelwright, an eloquent 

26 



preacher. It might be said of Mrs. Hutchinson that she 
organized the first woman's club in America. Her home 
in Boston was a plain, frame house at what is now the corner 
of Washington and School Streets, and to her spacious living- 
room came twice a week, over the marshes and through 
cornfields and cow paths, the leading ladies of Boston and 
neighboring towns to read, discuss, and criticise the sermons 
of the various ministers. Mrs. Hutchinson took the leading 
part in these meetings, and presently affirmed that all the 
ministers, except Wheelwright and Cotton, were preaching 
"a covenant of works" instead of "a covenant of grace." 
At first, John Cotton and Governor Vane both expressed 
their sympathy with the views of Mrs. Hutchinson, until 
Cotton saw that it was likely to cost him his popularity, 
while Vane, at the next election, lost the office of Governor, 
which again passed to Winthrop, and returned disappointed 
to England. Mrs. Hutchinson greatly disliked the Rev- 
erend Mr. Wilson, preacher at the Boston Church, and 
immediately left whenever he rose to speak, taking this 
method of showing her preference for his colleague, the 
Reverend John Cotton, "teacher" of the Church. Thus 
dissensions arose which threatened the harmony of the 
colony. The majority of the Boston Church was in sym- 
pathy with Mrs. Hutchinson, while the ministers of the 
colony, except Wheelwright and Cotton, sided with Wilson. 
The churches outside of Boston supported their ministers, 
and thus this purely theological dispute gradually assumed 
a political character. But it seemed to Winthrop and other 
leaders of the State necessary to present a united front to 
England, or there might be danger of losing the charter, 
and with it that liberty so dear to their hearts. Nor did 
they feel that the constituted authorities could allow an 
individual to destroy the faith of the people in a Church 
and government just established at such great trouble. 
The General Court, therefore, took action, and banished 
Wheelwright, who withdrew, with his followers, to seek, in 
the wilderness of New Hampshire, that freedom of thought 
which Massachusetts denied. Later the sentence of banish- 
ment was also pronounced against Mrs. Hutchinson, who 

27 



was to leave the colony in the following Spring. In the 
meantime, she was kept in confinement and allowed to see 
no one but her family and the ministers of the colony, who 
discovered that she had "gross errors to the number of 
thirty or thereabouts." She was, therefore, publicly ex- 
communicated from the Puritan church. Being thus cast 
out by the State and the Church, this brilliant woman, who 
was possessed of wit, intellect, education and independence 
of character, passed from the borders of Massachusetts to 
settle on the island of Aquidneck, which afterward became 
a part of Rhode Island, and at last to meet death, with most 
of her children, in August, 1643, at the hands of the Indians, 
in the lonely wilderness near the borders of New Netherland . 
Although Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers were driven 
from the Massachusetts colony, free thought and disaffection 
did not disappear with them. In less than ten years came 
a struggle with the Baptists, who were excommunicated 
and fined, but with little success in accomplishing the pur- 
pose of making all men think alike. 

The Puritan settlement having grown and increased in 
importance, the English government began to realize that 
an independent State was being established across the 
Atlantic, and to prevent this, demanded the return of the 
charter. In this crisis, the grim courage of the Puritans 
did not waver, for they began to arm themselves and to 
fortify the harbor of Boston, being ready, if necessary, to 
defend their charter by force. An humble petition to be 
allowed to retain it was, nevertheless, sent to the Mother 
Country, and the issue was thereby delayed until England 
became so occupied with the Puritans at home that she had 
no time to trouble about the Puritans abroad. Thus was 
the charter saved to the Massachusetts Colony for fifty 
years. 

After Charles I had been beheaded, and while Cromwell 
and the Long Parliament were all-powerful, the Puritans 
found plenty to interest them in England, and the exodus 
to the new world almost ceased. However, some twenty 
thousand people had already joined the first settlers on the 
Massachusetts coast, and the colonies continued to prosper. 

28 



With this rapid growth, the government was hampered by 
a lack of fixed laws, such as are necessary to regulate a 
State properly, therefore, in 1641, the deficiency was sup- 
plied by a code of laws called in Massachusetts the "Body of 
Liberties." Another important step was taken, when the 
four colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Haven and 
Connecticut, joined together and formed what is known as 
the "New England Confederation." This alliance soon 
proved the value of united action, and furnished a lesson of 
great importance, as the troublous days of the Revolution 
approached. The representatives of these four colonies 
held their first meeting in Boston, September 17, 1643, and 
planted, at that time, those principles of government which 
later, when developed, produced the Constitution of the 
United States. 

In 1649, Massachusetts lost, through the death of Gov- 
ernor Winthrop, the man whose wisdom and skill had guided 
the infant colony in safety through the first trying years. 
His death was followed, in 1652, by that of John Cotton. 
Unfortunately, their successors were men more fanatical 
and less broad-minded. For thirteen out of the following 
fifteen years, stern John Endicott acted as Governor of the 
colony, while Cotton's successor in office and influence was 
John Norton, a man of unyielding temper. With such 
leaders, it is not surprising that the Puritans broke out 
afresh in the persecution of others, and this time it was the 
new sect of Quakers who fell under their disapproval. The 
Quakers believed in the separation of Church and State, 
and wished to do away with all distinctions between clergy 
and laity. They refused to pay tithes, perform military 
service, or take the oath of allegiance, and they laid claim 
to an "Inward Light" by which their conduct was guided. 
The enthusiasm of the Quakers for these doctrines some- 
times led them to acts of impropriety and rudeness. Their 
mere coming to New England was regarded by the Puritans 
as an invasion, which must be repelled by the harshest 
measures. Therefore, when the Quakers, Anne Austin and 
Mary Fisher, arrived in Boston, they were at once arrested 
and placed in prison, their books were publicly burned, and 

29 



they were sent from the colony by the ships on which they 
had come. But no sooner had these two women been 
disposed of than eight other Quakers arrived from England, 
who were likewise imprisoned and later sent out of the 
country. All the colonies of the Federation now proceeded 
to pass laws to keep out "notorious heretics, such as Quakers 
or Ranters." Of all the New England colonies, Massa- 
chusetts was the least tolerant in spirit, and passed the 
severest laws. The Quaker who returned for the first time, 
after banishment, was to be flogged and imprisoned at hard 
labor; for the second offense, his ears were to be cut off, and 
for the third, his tongue was to be bored with a red hot iron. 
As the Quakers persisted in coming back after banishment, 
in spite of these cruel laws, their return was finally made an 
offense punishable by death, although most of the Puritans 
of Massachusetts did not favor this decree. But the Quakers 
felt themselves under divine command to defy their perse- 
cutors, and persisted in returning, notwithstanding the 
death penalty. In September of 1659, the Quakers, William 
Robinson, Marmaduke Stevenson, and Mary Dyer came to 
Boston and were banished, when they at once returned, as 
if to court martyrdom. Governor Endicott did not flinch, 
the law must be enforced, and the three were led to the 
gallows, where the two men met death bravely. Mary 
Dyer was the wife of the Secretary of Rhode Island, and just 
as the halter was being placed about her neck, her son ar- 
rived to take her home. But all the entreaties of her hus- 
band and her son could not keep her there. She returned 
to Boston, called as she thought by the Lord, and met the 
fate which she courted. But the people of Massachusetts, 
not being cruel by nature, grew tired of bloodshed, and thus 
only one more Quaker was to fall a victim to their mistaken 
zeal. This was William Leddra, who returned from banish- 
ment and refused to leave, in spite of many entreaties, 
therefore, in March, 1661, he too perished for his faith. 
But the people refused to listen longer to the demands of 
Governor Endicott, or to the severe reprimands of the 
Boston ministers, Wilson and Norton. Capital punishment 
was henceforth abolished for returning Quakers, although 

30 



they were still fined, imprisoned, and whipped from town 
to town. But gradually these persecutions likewise ceased, 
and a more tolerant spirit prevailed. 

For thirty-eight years after the Pequod War, there was 
peace between Puritan and Indian. The white men paid 
a fair price for the land which they occupied, and made 
efforts to Christianize the savages, whose rude, untutored 
minds seemed unable to grasp the idea of a loving and for- 
giving God. John Eliot, an educated man who had mastered 
the Algonquin dialect, was the most successful of the mission- 
aries. He established several villages for his converts near 
the English towns, in order to bring them closer to Christian 
influences. These "Praying Indians," as they were called, 
built for themselves log houses, and most of them adopted 
the English dress. The members of the more powerful 
tribes, however, refused to join the praying Indians, and 
believed that an effort was being made to adopt them, in 
order to add to the fighting strength of the English. Their 
fear and dread of the Puritans increased, as they saw their 
forests disappearing and realized that the strangers were 
pushing farther and farther westward. Hatred of the in- 
truders grew stronger, and they began to harbor thoughts 
of revenge. At last, an unfortunate incident hastened the 
conflict. Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, and stead- 
fast ally of the Plymouth colonists, had died, leaving two 
sons, Wamsutta and Metacom, or Alexander and Philip, 
as they were called by the English. It was rumored that 
Alexander, Massasoit's successor as chief of the tribe, was 
plotting against the colonists, and he was accordingly 
summoned to Plymouth to make explanations. While 
returning to his tribe, he fell ill of a fever and died. The 
mind of his brother, Philip, could only think of poison, 
and plot revenge. It is difficult to tell just what part 
Philip really played in the terrible Indian war which followed, 
and which is called by his name, "King Philip's War." 
For many years, he seems to have passed from tribe to tribe, 
stirring up hostility against the English, and forming a 
federation among the Indians, for the purpose of extermi- 
nating the white men, who were robbing them of their hunt- 

31 



ing grounds. In 1674, the time appeared ripe to put these 
plans for revenge into execution, and the village of Swansey 
in Plymouth, near the Rhode Island border, was the first 
to be attacked. On account of rumors of trouble, messengers 
were sent from Plymouth and Boston, who were horrified, 
as they approached Swansey to find the road covered with 
the scorched, mutilated and dismembered bodies of men, 
women and children. Dartmouth, Middleborough and 
Taunton were the next to suffer, and the Indians showed 
no mercy. Their victims were impaled on sharp sticks, 
or roasted over slow fires, or tortured with all the cruelty 
which only an Indian can devise. Along the once peaceful 
Connecticut Valley, devastation was now spread. For ten 
weeks, the commissioners of the New England Confederacy 
were in session at Boston, discussing means of defense 
while day after day, reports of fresh horrors reached their 
ears. What wonder if the Indians seemed to them more 
like savage beasts than men? At last, the powerful tribe 
of the Narragansetts joined Philip in this bloody war, and 
a thousand men of New England were enlisted to march 
against them. It was December, and the Indians had taken 
up winter quarters on a piece of rising ground in the midst 
of a swamp in the Narragansett country. They had sur- 
rounded their camp by rows of tall palisades, making a wall 
twelve feet thick. The single approach to the one entrance 
of this fortress was over a log slippery with the winter's ice 
and snow. Within were women and children, and not less 
than two thousand warriors, who were provided with muskets 
which they knew well how to use. Early in the afternoon 
of December 19, there approached this stronghold the five 
hundred and twenty-seven men from Massachusetts, the 
one hundred and fifty-eight from Plymouth, the three 
hundred from Connecticut. Those in advance rushed upon 
the slippery bridge, and immediately six captains fell, 
struck by the bullets of the savages, while many men were 
hurled into the swamp. But others pushed on with a 
resolute spirit, and forced the entrance in front, just as the 
men from Connecticut poured through an opening which 

32 



they had made in the rear. It was a Sabbath afternoon, 
but the Puritan restrained not his hand on account of the 
day, for he felt that the Lord had dehvered unto him his 
enemies. In this terrible conflict, known as the "Great 
Swamp Fight," about one thousand Indians perished, 
their supplies of food were destroyed, and their wigwams 
were burned. But at least one thousand escaped into the 
snows of winter, with hearts full of hatred and revenge. 
Thus the war was prolonged until Canonchet, the brave 
chief of the Narragansetts, was defeated and killed, and 
until Philip was finally driven from his retreat, on August 
12, 1676, and being struck by a bullet, fell on his face and 
died. His head was severed and sent to Plymouth, where 
it was mounted on a pole, which was set up on the village 
green, while the townspeople held in their church a service 
of thanksgiving. By midsummer of 1678, the Indians were 
everywhere defeated, and peace was restored to the land. 
Twelve towns had been utterly destroyed and many others 
had suffered severely. One thousand men had lost their 
lives, and the colonies were burdened with debts caused by 
the war. But the result was even more disastrous for the 
Massachusetts Indians, since for them it meant utter ex- 
tinction. The Puritan had done his work thoroughly, and 
the red man figures no more in New England history, ex- 
cept in the border warfare as an ally of the French. 

Men were not lacking in New England who felt that they 
were unjustly treated by the Puritan government, and 
especially was this the case among those who were deprived 
of the right to vote, because they were not members of the 
Puritan church. In Boston, after 1650, the opinion rapidly 
spread that all baptized persons of upright lives, even if 
not communicants of the church, should politically be re- 
garded as members. This political doctrine was known as 
the "Halfway Covenant," and aroused such intense oppo- 
sition as resulted in a division of the Boston Church, and 
the organization by the supporters of the Halfway Covenant 
of a new church, which became famous in history as the 
"Old South." This church grew rapidly and, in 1729, 
erected the famous building which still stands, and which 

33 



has become endeared by its history to the heart of every 
American. 

At the accession to the throne of Charles II, the colonists 
sent commissioners to England imploring the favor of the 
King, who promised to respect their charter, provided they 
would take the oath of allegiance, administer justice in the 
King's name, extend the right of suffrage, and permit in 
their colony the form of worship used by the English church. 

The people consented to administer justice in the King's 
name, but paid no attention to the other restrictions. The 
disturbed state of politics in England at this time operated 
in favor of this independent attitude on the part of the 
colonists. Nevertheless, their enemies contrived to keep 
busy at the English Court, and evidence was not lacking 
that some of the English laws had been evaded, and es- 
pecially was it true that Massachusetts constantly trans- 
gressed the Navigation Act by allowing vessels from France, 
Spain and the Canaries to trade directly with Boston, and 
thus to bring in goods which had never paid duty to England. 
For the colonists could hardly be expected to share the 
peculiar view of England that the colonies existed solely 
for her benefit. 

Feeling the need of a more convenient currency than 
the Indian Wampum, or than corn and cattle, which had 
been made legal tender for debts, the colonial government 
had established a mint in Boston in 1652. The shillings 
from this mint bore on one side the word Massachusetts 
encircling a tree, hence they were known as "pine-tree 
shillings." Although this coinage had been made on account 
of the necessities of trade, the King objected to it, as being 
an act suitable only for an independent government, and he 
therefore considered this act on the part of Massachusetts 
an offense against England. 

The general supervision of the colonies was intrusted to 
a standing committee of the privy council, familiarly known 
as the "Lords of Trade." This committee appointed 
Edward Randolph to go about through New Hampshire 
and Maine, which colonies were under the protection of 
Massachusetts, in order to find out what grounds for dis- 

34 



satisfaction might there exist. From this time on, Ran- 
dolph became the evil genius of Massachusetts. In 1678, 
he was appointed by the King Collector of Customs at the 
Port of Boston. For many years he went back and forth 
across the water, cairying to the ears of the King tales of 
the independent attitude of Massachusetts, and constantly 
putting wrong constructions on the acts of the colonists. 
He also stirred up some of the leading men in Boston, who 
were dissatisfied with the Puritan government, and who 
formed a new political group, later known as the "Tory" 
party. This party was headed by Joseph Dudley, son of 
Thomas Dudley, a former Governor. But Joseph Dudley was 
wholly unlike his father, and seemed to have been a 
seeker for place rather than a stickler for principle. 

The history of Massachusetts, from 1680 to 1684, is a 
history of efforts to foil the adversaries of the colony, and 
to preserve the charter of Charles I, which, nevertheless, 
was annulled by a decree in chancery, June 21, 1684. Her 
enemies had finally triumphed and she now became the 
property of King Charles II, who might, if he so chose, 
turn the people from their homes and deprive them of all 
the benefits of their hard labor. But, in February, a stroke 
of apoplexy, from which he died, frustrated the King's 
schemes for revenge. He was succeeded by his brother, 
James II, whose favorite project it was to unite all the 
provinces from Maine to the Delaware River under one 
Governor. 

The man chosen for this important post was Sir Edmond 
Andros, the former Governor of New York. He made 
Boston his headquarters, and antagonized the liberty- 
loving people by many high-handed measures. He gave an 
especial affront, when he demanded the use of the Old 
South Meeting House for an Episcopal service, but even 
more offensive were his arbitrary taxation, and his censor- 
ship of the press, so that Dudley openly boasted that the 
people of New England had "no privileges left except the 
privilege of not being sold for slaves." 

But England herself grew tired of the tyranny of James 
II, and drove him into exile across the channel. When, 

35 



on April 4, 1689, the news was brought to Boston of the 
landing in England of the Prince of Orange, the people 
remained strangely quiet for two weeks, but, on the 18th, a 
town meeting was held, the drums suddenly beat to arms, 
the militia assembled, and the signal fires were lighted on 
Beacon Hill. Andros was summoned to surrender, and was 
finally arrested and imprisoned. The colonies, united by 
James II, at once fell apart, when their governments under 
the old charters were re-established. Five weeks after this 
revolution in Boston, King William and Queen Mary were 
proclaimed in the city with great rejoicings. 

Increase Mather, a celebrated preacher of Boston, and 
President of Harvard College, was at that time in England, 
and made every effort to obtain from the new King a res- 
toration of the former charter. But even William and Mary 
did not entirely approve of an independent government in 
one of their provinces, therefore a new charter was prepared, 
which somewhat curtailed the former liberties of the colony. 
Mather succeeded in having Nova Scotia, Maine and Ply- 
mouth annexed to Massachusetts. But a Governor was, 
henceforth, to be appointed by the crown, instead of elected 
by the people, although they were still to have a legislature 
of their own choosing, which should levy the taxes and make 
the laws, subject, however, to England's approval. Mem- 
bership in the Puritan church was no longer to be required 
of a voter. Increase Mather was allowed, practically, to 
select the new Governor, and his choice fell upon Sir William 
Phipps, who was born in the woods of Maine. In early 
life, Phipps became a sailor and heard of a Spanish treasure 
ship, which was lying at the bottom of the sea. By the aid 
of King James II, and leading men in England, he succeeded 
in finding the exact location of this ship and in securing its 
treasure, a portion of which was awarded to him. In this 
way, he became very wealthy and was made a knight. 
As a statesman, however, he showed no great qualities, and 
his term of Governor, which lasted only two years and a 
half, was "more picturesque than important." 

It was during his administration that superstition and 
intolerance were once more to reap their harvest of blood 

36 



in Massachusetts. The behef in witchcraft was not pecuHar 
to New England, for a fear of the supernatural prevailed 
everywhere at that time, and executions for that crime had 
already occurred in England and elsewhere. A witch was 
a person supposed to have made a compact with the devil, 
whose faithful subject he agreed to become, in return for 
the power to exert upon others an evil influence. Boston 
did not bear an unstained record, for witches had been 
persecuted within her borders. But it was the great out- 
burst of fanaticism in Salem which finally made the life 
of every man or woman in the colony insecure, and which 
caused the special court of seven judges, appointed by 
Governor Phipps, to inflict the death penalty upon so many 
unhappy victims. Many accusations of witchcraft were 
made, and some persons even found this a convenient 
method of taking revenge on their enemies, so that the jails 
were full of prisoners awaiting trial. Nineteen persons 
suffered death on the gallows at Salem for witchcraft, some 
of whom were from well-known families, and of upright 
lives. The executions took place on four different occasions, 
June 10, July 19, August 19, and September 22, 1692. 
At last, even the wife of Governor Phipps was suspected, 
and then the Governor concluded it was high time to put 
an end to such dangerous proceedings. Accordingly, he 
ordered that all persons accused of witchcraft should be 
released from prison. Hundreds returned to their homes, 
the unnatural excitement died down, and prosecutions for 
witchcraft were hereafter unknown in the New England 
settlements. 

After the departure of Governor Phipps, came a succes- 
sion of royal Governors, most of whom were men of ability, 
and some of whom were of native Puritan stock. A con- 
tinual cause of trouble between Governor and Assembly 
was the question of the Governor's salary. Governor 
Bellomont, on his arrival, informed the General Court that 
he expected a becoming salary to be settled upon him. 
He was popular, and the Court therefore voted him "pres- 
ents," but firmly declined to fix his salary for a term of years. 
This contest was continued under all succeeding Governors, 

37 



until the year 1735, when Governor Belcher was advised 
by England to accept the sum granted for a year, and after- 
wards to take what he could get. This was a triumph for 
the popular cause, for to vote the Governor a fixed salary 
for a term of years, would leave the people without any 
weapon against possible tyranny. 

For many years, under the second, or provincial charter, 
warfare with the Indians was kept up on the frontier. The 
Indians were organized and directed by the French, and, 
whether France was at war with England or not, the Indians 
continued to burn the border settlements and to massacre 
the settlers. At last, the great French and Indian war 
broke out, when England, aided by her colonies, fought 
valiantly for the destruction of French power on the North 
American continent. At its close, the colonists found them- 
selves much weakened in men and exhausted in finances, 
but they now realized their own strength and knew, that, 
once for all, they were free from the danger of French aggres- 
sions, free to develop their own resources and to expand their 
borders. But it was due to the expense of this war that 
troubles with England now increased, and that a struggle 
began in which Boston became the central point. 

In 1760, Boston was one of the most important towns 
on the continent, and indeed few towns in England, outside 
of London, were larger or of greater commercial importance. 
Her wharves were extensive, her streets clean and well 
kept, although crooked and paved with cobblestones. 
The city had fine shops, many handsome houses, and some 
substantial pubhc buildings. One of the latter was Faneuil 
Hall, given to the town by a rich merchant, whose name it 
bore. There were also numerous schoolhouses, while several 
newspapers and some periodicals kept the inhabitants 
informed of the news of the day. The severity of the Puritan 
customs had somewhat relaxed, due largely to the influence 
of the royal Governors, and other representatives of the 
Crown. For these officials dressed well, lived well, danced 
well, and made the sombre Puritan town resound with their 
revelries and laughter. But even the Puritans themselves 
were beginning to own handsome houses and to drive out 

38 



in stately coaches. The slaves in the province were mostly- 
domestic servants, of whom there were about fourteen 
hundred in Boston. Since the farms of New England were 
small, and each farmer cultivated his own estate, few slaves 
were owned in the country. The sports were riding, hunt- 
ing, fishing, skating, excursions down the harbor, picnics 
and teas. But none of these were indulged in on Sunday, 
for the Puritan Sabbath was still strictly observed, nor could 
anyone enter or leave the town on that day. 

Bitterness of feeling existed between the customhouse 
officers and the merchants and traders of the province, and 
this reached its height, when it was proposed that the custom- 
house officers should be armed with writs to enable them 
forcibly to enter houses, shops or warehouses for the purpose 
of seizing goods which they suspected might be smuggled. 
The people were greatly aroused at this, and James Otis 
asked for a hearing on these "writs of assistance," as they 
were called. This hearing was held in February, 1761, 
and was made memorable by the eloquent speech of Otis, 
who plead for human rights and the sanctity of the home. 
This speech prepared the minds of the people for resistance 
to England, so that, as John Adams said, "then and there 
the child independence was born." 

When, in 1765, the Stamp Act was passed by Parliament, 
requiring stamped paper to be used for all legal business 
in America, this spirit of resistance manifested itself in mob 
violence. When, on November 1, the Stamp Act was to 
take effect, the people of Massachusetts refused to use the 
stamps. In Boston, bells were rung, guns were fired, flags 
were at half-mast, and Greenville, who had become the 
English Prime Minister, was hung in effigy. All this was 
in protest against an act giving the power of taxation to 
a Parliament in which the colonists were not represented, 
for it was a principle dear to the hearts of all Englishmen, 
that taxes should not be levied upon them, save by a body 
in which they were represented. The English government 
was much surprised at this resistance, but Pitt took up the 
cause of the colonists, and, through his influence, the law 
was repealed. Nevertheless, England still maintained the 

39 



right of Parliament to tax the colonies, and, in 1767, the 
famous Townshend Bill was passed, which created in America 
a board of commissioners of the customs, with large powers, 
and laid an import duty on glass, lead, paper and tea, which 
tax was to be used in providing salaries for the royal judges 
and governors in America. The same hatred of tyranny, 
which caused the English to behead Charles I, and to drive 
James II into exile, aroused the English Puritans in America 
to resent this attack upon their rights as Englishmen, for 
not only were they to be taxed without representation, but 
this money was to be used in paying governor and judges, 
and thus freeing these officers completely from popular 
control. Addresses, petitions, and nonimportation agree- 
ments were prepared, while Governor Bernard, by refusing 
to summon the Assembly, brought into action the Boston 
"Town Meeting." This body was led by Samuel Adams, a 
man of strong will, unyielding purpose, literary ability, and 
a thorough believer in liberty, and the rights of the people. 
He was an organizer and a politician, in the best sense of 
that term, and became one of the great leaders in the Revo- 
lutionary movement. This Town Meeting expressed its 
disapproval of the new tax by means of resolutions which 
were widely circulated. When the Assembly met in 1768, 
a circular letter, drafted by Samuel Adams, and sent to the 
other colonial Assemblies, called out sympathetic replies, 
and taught the different colonies that they might work 
together for the preservation of the liberties of Englishmen. 
Reports were continually being carried to England that 
the Massachusetts colony was seeking independence. The 
"Romney," a ship of fifty guns, was, therefore, stationed in 
Boston Harbor to help the royal officials enforce the acts 
of Parliament and to prevent smuggling. By the close of 
1768, more warships were in the harbor, while two regi- 
ments of soldiers were encamped upon the Common. But, 
greatly as the people resented the presence of these soldiers, 
they were not intimidated by them. On September 12, 
1768, a town meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, when it was 
resolved that "the inhabitants of the Town of Boston will, 
at the utmost peril of their lives and fortunes, maintain and 

40 



defend their rights, liberties, privileges and immunities." 
It was, with this state of feeling, but natural that riots 
should occur between citizens and soldiers. On the 5th 
day of March, 1770, straggling soldiers and aimless citizens 
had mdulged in various street brawls, when, at nine o'clock 
in the evening, a quarrel arose with a sentinel, who called 
for aid. When a sergeant appeared with a file of men, the 
crowd railed at the soldiers and dared them to shoot, where- 
upon the soldiers fired upon the crowd, killing three and 
wounding eight. Thus the first Massachusetts blood was 
shed m the cause of liberty, for the "Boston Massacre," as 
it is called, was more than a mere street riot. It was the 
protest of the people against the presence of soldiers sent to 
enforce laws which the people believed fatal to their liberties 
as Englishmen. 

On the very day of this Boston Massacre, the Townshend 
Bill was repealed by Parliament, with the exception of the 
tax on tea, retained to prove the right of the English govern- 
ment to tax the colonies. But it was to this principle, and 
not to the tax, that the colonists objected, 'therefore, when 
the ships loaded with tea entered the harbor of Boston, 
the people were prepared. A large mass meeting was held 
in Old South Church, and the people requested that the tea 
be returned. But Hutchinson, who was then Governor, 
refused the ships a permit to sail. It was Thursday, Decem- 
ber 16, 1773, and in and around the Old South Church 
seven thousand people were gathered, when the Captain of 
the "Dartmouth" reported for the last time that the Govern- 
or still refused clearance papers for the ships.' Samuel 
Adams then said, "This meeting can do nothing more to 
save the country." This signal was understood, and in the 
street some forty or fifty men, disguised as Indians, passed 
by. They proceeded to the harbor, boarded the tea ships, 
and the hated tea, which had become a symbol of tyranny,' 
was cast into the waters. 

The news of this action aroused deep resentment in 
England and, as a retaliatory measure, the government 
passed the "Boston Port Bill," to close the harbor and 
destroy the trade of the rebellious town. To this was 

41 



added the "Regulation and Restriction Acts," which did 
away with the charter and the cherished Kberties of the 
province. A third act permitted officers of the Crown to 
be sent to England for trial for crimes committed while 
enforcing the laws; while a fourth, legalized the quartering 
of troops upon the inhabitants of Boston. 

But, by these measures, England brought about the very 
thing which she had most to dread — the union of the colonies, 
for it was now generally recognized that a similar fate might 
befall them all at any time. Letters were sent by the 
Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence to the Com- 
mittees in all the provinces, recommending a suspension of 
trade with Great Britain, while gifts of money and food came 
to Boston from the other provinces. The call from Virginia 
for a Continental Congress met with a favorable response 
from the other colonies. In this first Continental Congress, 
which met in Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, Massa- 
chusetts was represented by John and Samuel Adams. 
The deputies of this congress, in order to assist Massachusetts 
in the struggle "for her rights, agreed not to import or to 
export goods to England after certain stated times. And 
thus was Massachusetts supported by her "sister colonies," 
and the ties between them were strengthened. 

General Gage was now appointed Governor of the 
Massachusetts Colony, as well as Commander of the English 
Army in America. Additional soldiers were sent to enforce 
obedience on the part of the colonists, and the official 
records were removed to Salem, which was made the seat 
of government by royal order. The Americans, on their 
part, made preparations to resist the execution of the unjust 
laws by force. Minute men were enrolled in every town, 
while arms and ammunition were collected in Concord, 
which fact became known to General Gage. On the night 
of April 18, 1775, eight hundred English soldiers were em- 
barked at the foot of the Common and rowed to East 
Cambridge, from which place they began their march 
through Lexington to Concord, to capture the military 
supplies of the colonists. This movement was not un- 
known to the patriots, and when the two signal lights in 

42 



the tower of the Old North Church gave notice to Paul 
Revere, watching on the Charlestown shore, that the British 
had started by sea, he put spurs to his horse and aroused the 
minute men from Boston to Lexington. There the royal 
troops met a small body of minute men and crying out, 
"Disperse, ye villians! Ye rebels!" fired upon them. Eight 
minute men soon lay dead or dying on the square, ten others 
being wounded, and thus war with England was begun. 
The British soldiers then continued their march to Concord 
and were there met at the bridge by a body of colonials. 
A skirmish took place, and several on each side were killed 
or wounded. The British now commenced a retreat, but 
the country was thoroughly aroused, and from the friendly 
shelter of each rock, tree or stump, the minute men poured 
forth their deadly fire. At Lexington, the British were met 
by a force sent to relieve them, but the fight continued until 
at dusk the retreating English soldiers found protection 
beneath the guns of the fleet. 

The effect of this battle was to encourage the provincial 
soldiers, and minute men poured in from every direction 
in such numbers that the siege of Boston began, which penned 
up in the city General Gage with his well-disciplined army. 
On June 16, 1775, a detachment of colonial troops was sent 
to take possession of Charlestown Heights. These forces 
first stopped at Bunker Hill, but later decided to advance 
to Breed's Hill, where a redoubt was laid out and breast- 
works thrown up. At noon, June 17, General Howe ad- 
vanced with two thousand troops and the battle began. 
The British met with terrible losses, but the ammunition of 
the Americans gave out and they were forced to withdraw. 
The moral victory of the "Battle of Bunker Hill," as it is 
called in history, remained, nevertheless, with the Americans, 
for they had proved that the colonists could and would fight 
in defense of their liberties. 

The second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia, 
May 10, 1775, and appointed George Washington Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the American Army. He reached 
Cambridge July 3, and took command of the army under 
the historic elm. He needed time to discipline his troops 

43 



and collect ammunition, and this was given him by the 
hesitating policy of General Gage, who was later super- 
seded as Commander of the British by Sir William Howe. 
Closer and closer Washington drew his forces around Boston 
from which most patriots had fled, and in which the sym- 
pathizers of the King had gathered. At last, on the evening 
of March 4, 1776, Washington took possession of Dorchester 
Heights, where he threw up intrenchments and threatened 
to bombard the town. On the evening of the 8th, Howe 
sent a flag of truce with the promise to withdraw from the 
city. On the 17th, the entire English army sailed away, 
and Washington had won his first great victory. Boston 
was thus freed from English control, and the war was trans- 
ferred to other parts of the country. But the men of Massa- 
chusetts continued to contribute their money and to offer 
up their lives, until independence from England was won, 
and the citizens of all the colonies became a united people. 
To the colonists of that day there were things worse than 
war, and the worst of these was tyranny; and there were 
things well worth fighting for, and the chiefest of these was 
liberty. 



44 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 012 716 4 



